HHTS: transit ridership (2017, 2019, 2021) Analysis
Mary Richards
August 05, 2022
Introduction
The work presented in this document contains analysis of commute mode, with a focus on transit ridership, in relation to auto ownership and geography. The analysis includes 2021 data and utilizes PSRC’s R package, psrc.travelsurvey.
- Has commuting by transit changed with COVID-19?
(2017 and 2019 vs. 2021)
- Who uses transit? Have there been shifts over time?
- How does vehicle ownership influence transit commuting use over time?
Filtering out children and those who do not commute
General Commuting
Using ‘commute_mode’ defined as: ‘Usual way of commuting to current
location/office’
survey logic: if workplace = fixed/varied/telework some
days
Workplace options:
- Only one work location outside of home
- Work at home ONLY (telework, self-employed)
- Telework some days and travel to a work location some days
- Work location regularly varies (different offices/jobsites)
- Drive/travel for work (driver, sales)
##
## 2017
## Airplane or helicopter 8
## Bicycle or e-bike 156
## Bus (public transit) 842
## Carpool ONLY with other household members 187
## Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members) 70
## Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak) 13
## Drive alone 1728
## Ferry or water taxi 6
## Motorcycle/moped 0
## Motorcycle/moped/scooter 12
## Other (e.g. skateboard) 2
## Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service) 10
## Paratransit 1
## Private bus or shuttle 22
## Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor) 0
## Streetcar 3
## Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab) 1
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail) 95
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar) 0
## Vanpool 28
## Walk, jog, or wheelchair 286
##
## 2017_2019
## Airplane or helicopter 14
## Bicycle or e-bike 322
## Bus (public transit) 1600
## Carpool ONLY with other household members 337
## Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members) 132
## Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak) 48
## Drive alone 3169
## Ferry or water taxi 32
## Motorcycle/moped 12
## Motorcycle/moped/scooter 12
## Other (e.g. skateboard) 2
## Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service) 34
## Paratransit 1
## Private bus or shuttle 54
## Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor) 3
## Streetcar 8
## Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab) 1
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail) 224
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar) 0
## Vanpool 54
## Walk, jog, or wheelchair 647
##
## 2019
## Airplane or helicopter 6
## Bicycle or e-bike 166
## Bus (public transit) 758
## Carpool ONLY with other household members 150
## Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members) 62
## Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak) 35
## Drive alone 1441
## Ferry or water taxi 26
## Motorcycle/moped 12
## Motorcycle/moped/scooter 0
## Other (e.g. skateboard) 0
## Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service) 24
## Paratransit 0
## Private bus or shuttle 32
## Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor) 3
## Streetcar 5
## Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab) 0
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail) 129
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar) 0
## Vanpool 26
## Walk, jog, or wheelchair 361
##
## 2021
## Airplane or helicopter 1
## Bicycle or e-bike 29
## Bus (public transit) 118
## Carpool ONLY with other household members 86
## Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members) 36
## Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak) 4
## Drive alone 1128
## Ferry or water taxi 8
## Motorcycle/moped 0
## Motorcycle/moped/scooter 7
## Other (e.g. skateboard) 0
## Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service) 4
## Paratransit 2
## Private bus or shuttle 1
## Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor) 5
## Streetcar 0
## Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab) 0
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail) 0
## Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar) 12
## Vanpool 2
## Walk, jog, or wheelchair 43
When the commute modes are simplified:
##
## 2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
## 1-Active transit/micro mobility 454 996 542 84
## 2-Public Transit 960 1913 953 144
## 3-Drive alone 1728 3169 1441 1128
## 4-HOV modes 296 558 262 128
## 5-Other modes 32 70 38 2HOV-modes are categorized based on the number of individuals in the vehicle:
- “Carpool ONLY with other household members”
- “Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members)”
- “Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service)”
- “Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab)”
- “Vanpool”
Race/ethnicity
Race - all categories
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Race - POC/Non-POC
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Race - Asian POC/Non-Asian POC/White
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Income
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Education
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Regional Growth Center
This analysis is based on the final_home_is_rgc variable.
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Gender
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
No-vehicle households
The following research will be focused on those who reported commuting to work and who don’t own any hosehold vehicles.
survey logic: vehicle_count==“0 (no vehicles)”
Race/ethnicity
Race - all categories
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Race - POC/Non-POC
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Race - Asian POC/Non-Asian POC/White
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Income
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Education
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Regional Growth Center
Focusing on Active/Public Transit
To look at numbers more closely
Vehicle Ownership
There are different ways to quantify vehicle ownership
- hhsize/vehicle_count: Household size
- numadults/vehicle_count: Number of adults (18+)
- numworkers/vehicle_count: Number of workers (number
of household members with 1+ jobs)
Because we’re interested in commute modes, we will be focusing on the number of workers within a household.
Number of vehicles per worker
The variables used to calculate this variable are:
- Number of household vehicles
##
## 2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
## 0 (no vehicles) 400 873 473 105
## 1 vehicle 1548 2972 1424 453
## 2 vehicles 1191 2184 993 565
## 3 vehicles 235 470 235 253
## 4 vehicles 66 139 73 81
## 5 vehicles 21 51 30 14
## 6 vehicles 3 8 5 10
## 7 vehicles 0 2 2 3
## 8+ vehicles 6 7 1 2- Number of workers
##
## 2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
## 1 1414 2643 1229 564
## 2 1856 3669 1813 735
## 3 160 316 156 121
## 4 37 61 24 55
## 5 3 17 14 10
## 6 0 0 0 1
Race - all categories
For households with more vehicles than workers, the difference between
Black or African American and all other racial groups is larger in
2017/19 (especially compared to White only). In 2021, the MOEs overlap
more with Black or African American, except for the White only
individuals. In 2021 White only households decreased in this category
and increased in the one vehicle per worker households.
Race - POC/Non-POC
Non-POC households reported more vehicles than workers in 2017/19
compared to POC, but in 2021, the difference is smaller with overlapping
MOEs. It’s difficult to determine any other differences over time
because of MOEs. The trends and differences between groups seem
relatively consistent over time. The trend for one-vehicle per worker
households appears to shift between time periods, but the MOEs make it
difficult to determine.
Race - Asian POC/Non-Asian POC/White
In 2021, there were more Asian POC households with fewer vehicles than
workers compared to Non-POC, but the difference with Non-Asian POC is
difficult to determine because of MOEs. In 2017/19 there were more
Non-POC with more vehicles than workers than the other racial groups,
but this difference decreased in 2021 - a difference that is looks
mostly because of the decrease for Non-POC since the other groups remain
similar over time.
Income
Zero-vehicle households tend to make less money than households with at
least one vehicle, especially in 2021. The overlapping MOEs make it
difficult to determine any other changes between years, but the trends
seem similar. The number of the lowest income households with fewer
vehicles per worker decreased over time, seemingly because the number of
households without a vehicle increased.
Education
In 2021, the number of household vehicles per workers seemed to change
for individuals with less education - increased in no vehicle
households, decrease in fewer vehicle than worker households, and
increase in one vehicle per worker households. There doesn’t seem to be
too much of a difference between years for the other educational
attainment levels. There may be a difference for individuals with
bachelors degrees or higher in households with more vehicles than
workers (decrease in 2021).
Would it be better to create 2 groups instead of 3? This would group the first two smaller categories together.
##
## 2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
## 1-High school or less 174 358 184 214
## 2-Technical or Associates 575 1142 567 478
## 3-Bachelor's or higher 2721 5206 2485 794
Regional Growth Center
In 2021, for those living in RGCs, there was an increase in the zero
vehicle households and a decrease in the fewer vehicles than workers
households. The trends for those living outside of RGCs were similar
between years.
Commute Mode
In 2021, there was an increase in public transit use for zero-vehicle
households. the zero vehicle households and a decrease in the fewer
vehicles than workers households. The trends for those living outside of
RGCs were similar between years.
Research: Vehicle Ownership & Location
Vehicle Ownership & RGC
Did the number of zero-vehicle households in RGCs increase in 2021?
No - based on the z-score (0.6792483), we cannot
conclude that the values are different and that there was a change over
time.
Did the number of fewer-vehicles-than-workers households in RGCs decrease in 2021?
Yes - based on the z-score (2.3420281), we can
conclude that the values are different and that there was a change over
time.
External data sources for location
- US Census: Vehicles Available
- Vehicle
Registration Transactions by Department of Licensing
- Counties: King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish
- Owner Type: Individual Owner
- Transaction Month/Year: Jan 2021-Dec 2021
- Vehicle Type: Passenger Car, Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle, Truck
- “Car
Ownership Statistics” by Lyle Daly
- Washington: 2.5: average number of vehicles per WA household
Census
These results are similar to those from the Household Travel Survey.
Department of Licensing
Mapping Vehicle Registrations